[malandrew]

Having lived in China and know a lot about its history for the past 60 years, I can't help but shudder at anyone trying to compare health between Chinese and Americans on a longitudinal basis. A Chinese person that is 40-65 years old (the ages when cancers tend to crop up) has experienced a life that is wholly incomparable to the life of an American of the same age in so many different ways besides a meat vs plant based diet.

For example, a large portion of adult Chinese people likely experienced a calorie restricted diet for from 58-61 during the Great Leap Forward that was so severe that it led to millions upon millions of excess deaths. This was just one of the many things impacting diet that happened during the life of a 40-65 year old that would have participated in the China Study.

The China Study took place from 1983-2003, so it is likely that all the numerous food issues China experienced under Mao most likely impacted the study's results in ways that can't even be imagined.

IMHO at best it's a correlational study comparing apples and orangoutangs.